This invention relates to fire-retardant or flameretardant preparations, and also to articles treated with such preparations.
There is an increasing need in industry, in public places, and in the home for treatment of flammable articles to render them fire resistant or flame resistant. This requirement applies to children's clothing, and also applies to drapes, carpets, and the like for hotels and motels, and to wall coverings for public places. Flame proofing or flame retardancy is now being required even for displays and the like. Flame proofing and fire proofing is also desirable, if not required, for upholstered furniture, for vehicle interiors, and for industrial gloves and outer clothing. Flame retardancy is also required in some situations for mattresses and is desirable for paper products, wall hangings and other flammable items.
The conventional method of treating these articles for fire or flame retardancy is to apply an aqueous solution of an inorganic salt having fire-retardant characteristics, and then to dry the article. However, because these conventional treatments involve a soluble inorganic salt, the durability of the treatment is quite limited, as the salt dissolves or leaches out in moisture and can be washed away by laundering or dry cleaning, or simply by perspiration or high humidity conditions. Another problem of conventional treatments is that the inorganic salt employed as a fire-retardant can bring stiffness and/or discoloration to the treated article. Furthermore, because the inorganic salt can be somewhat toxic, the amount that can be employed for a given area of fabric is somewhat limited.
It would be desirable to supply the treatment as a self-application kit, e.g. for use by schools, parent, theater groups, etc. This would provide a safe and simple means for those without special skills or training to apply the treatment. Such a self-application kit would, of course, facilitate the treatment in place of existing drapes, carpeting, etc., without requiring their removal and reinstallation. However, to the best of applicant's knowledge no such kit has been made available.
Another problem with the previously-proposed flame- or fire-retardant treatments is their incompatibility with synthetic, high-polymer content fiber products. This is a problem derived from the need for water soluble inorganic salts, which have little if any tendency to bond to the surfaces of the synthetic organic polymer fibers.
A further problem is that with a generally colorless and textureless treatment, the untreated product appears the same as the treated product. Accordingly, it would be extremely desirable to provide means to detect whether an item has been treated, or whether a previous treatment is still effective. Unfortunately, the only current method of testing is to subject a sample to flame.